All manner and variety of absorbent articles configured for the absorption of body fluids such as menses, urine and feces are, of course, well known. With respect to feminine barrier devices, the art has offered two basic types; sanitary napkins have been developed for external wear about the pudendal region while tampons have been developed for internal wear within the vaginal cavity for interruption of menstrual flow therefrom. Such tampon devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,833, entitled “Tampon Applicator”, issued to Weigner, et al. on Nov. 1, 1983, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,986, entitled “Tampon Assembly With Means For Sterile Insertion”, issued to Jacobs on Nov. 8, 1983.
Hybrid devices which attempt to merge the structural features of the sanitary napkins and the tampons into a single device have also been proposed. Such hybrid devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,092,346, entitled “Catamenial Pad”, issued to Arone on Sep. 7, 1937, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,372, entitled “Feminine Hygiene Protective Shield”, issued to Denkinger on Sep. 16, 1975. Other less intrusive hybrid devices are known as labial or interlabial sanitary napkins and are characterized by having a portion which at least partially resides within the wearer's vestibule and a portion which at least partially resides external of the wearer's vestibule. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,662,527, entitled “Sanitary Pad”, issued to Jacks on Dec. 15, 1953, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,062, entitled “Labial Sanitary Pad”, issued to Lassen, et al. on Dec. 23, 1986. Interlabial pads have the potential to provide even greater freedom from inconvenience because of their small size and reduced risk of leakage. Numerous attempts have been made in the past to produce an interlabial pad which would combine the best features of tampons and sanitary napkins while avoiding at least some of the disadvantages associated with each of these types of devices. Examples of such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,917,049 issued to Delaney on Dec. 15, 1959, U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,235 issued to Harmon on Jan. 7, 1969, U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,392 issued to Johnson, et al. on Jun. 17, 1986, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,429 issued to Vukos, et al. on Jan. 16, 1996. A commercially available interlabial device is FRESH 'N FIT® PADETTE interlabial product which is marketed by Athena Medical Corp. of Portland, Oreg. and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,983,873 and 4,175,561 issued to Hirschman on Oct. 5, 1976 and Nov. 27, 1979, respectively.
Although these products such as sanitary napkins, tampons and interlabial pads are effective generally to absorb menses, there are still discomfort which need to be solved. For example, the wearer feels uncomfortable due to; (1) frictional discomfort associated with rubbing of the product against the wearer's skin while wearing/applying the product; (2) adherence of the menses discharged onto the topsheet to the wearer's skin; and (3) adherence of the surface of the product such as a topsheet to the wearer's skin. The friction when applying the product prevents the product from being properly inserted/applied, leading to discomfort. In addition, rubbing of the product against the wearer's skin causes itch and/or skin irritation. The adherence of the menses gives the wearer messy/dirty feeling. In addition, enzyme and/or microbial contained in the adhered menses attack the wearer's skin, thereby causing itch and/or skin irritation. The adherence of the topsheet gives the wearer sticky feeling. It also hinders the wearer's skin from air circulation, thereby causing skin overhydration.
Thus, it would be desirable to apply compositions on absorbent articles, which have an effect to reduce wearer's discomfort associated with wearing absorbent articles. One composition which is known to reduce wearer's discomfort is an oil-based composition. The oil-based composition is known to have an effect to soften, smoothen, coat, moisturize, lubricate, or cleanse the skin. The oil-based composition is also known to have an effect to reduce wetting of the sweat, feces, and/or menses against the skin and/or the topsheet of the article. However, such an oil-based composition tends not to remain localized on the surface of the absorbent article. Instead, it tends to migrate to other portions of the absorbent article by a direct contact or through packaging or a wrapper material of the absorbent article. If the oil-based composition migrates to an unexpected portion of the absorbent article, the oil-based composition tends to degrade the quality of the portion of the absorbent article. For example, if the oil-based composition migrates to a portion of the topsheet where the oil-based composition is not intended to be applied, the overall liquid absorbency of the absorbent article through the topsheet may reduce. Further, if the oil-based composition migrates toward an adhesive used to construct the absorbent article, and/or an adhesive used to secure a portion the absorbent article to other articles such as a wearer's undergarment, the adhesive may be degraded by a contact with the oil-based composition. As a result, the absorbent article may deconstruct or the adhesive of the absorbent article may not work as expected.
Thus, there is a need for an absorbent article to reduce the migration of a composition which has an effect to reduce wearer's discomfort associated with wearing absorbent articles.